Palazzo Balbi Senarega
University of Genova
- University of Genova
OUR SERVICES
- Virtual Tour
- 3D Production
- Interaction Design
- Web Development
AR, VR, 3d modeling and virtual tour: digitization at the service of cultural heritage
The entire palace has been the subject of a digitalization campaign that allows a virtual tour of the rooms in their current state. Complementary and parallel was the 3D modeling and reconstruction activity to document and communicate the different architectural phases of the building.
A scalable and flexible solution for the guided exploration of one of the major historical Genoese palaces included in the Rolli list based on the MetaFad platform for content management and on Movio for public representation and dissemination.
There are two fruition modes designed to access the heritage of the digitized palace, made accessible and enhanced through a storytelling that accompanies the visitor in a personalized way.
Frescoes
On the first piano nobile, the fresco in the salon, representing The Vices driven from the Fortress, was the subject of a multispectral diagnostic campaign in visible and infrared light in order to facilitate a more comprehensive approach to the study of the work. With postproduction reprocessing of the data obtained from Infrared, moreover, it is possible to obtain False Color, which makes it possible to distinguish the various pigments used to execute the fresco. The high-resolution visible light reproduction was then used to start a virtual restoration project. Some of the frescoes on the second main floor were the subject of specific studies for their communication to the public, through videos with special graphic effects that guide the understanding of the perspective layout in relation to figure painting and the identification of characters and iconographic details.
Within the portal, you can also browse pigment tables, in-depth discussions on pigments, fresco and restoration.
Quadreria
Digital versions of the traced works were integrated into the 3D model of the palace, to virtually return the quadreria to its original context. 3D modeling was used to recontextualize the quadreria and eliminate the ‘contemporary’ elements present today.
Digitization of the sculptural busts of the Valerio Castello Gallery
All eight busts were subjected to acquisition with structured light 3D scanners for cataloguing and conservation purposes, study and enhancement. On their digital version it was possible to experiment with a treatment with PBR (phisically based rendering) materials, which assumes the restitution of the original material, that can be shown in both VR (Virtual Reality) and AR (Augmented Reality), with different modes ranging from static to Real Time rendering.
On the one hand, the traditional web portal, on the other hand, the dynamic virtual tour associated with multimedia hotspots for remote content enjoyment, which uses, in addition, immersive technologies to show the palace and its rooms as they appeared in the 17th century.
The web platform dedicated to Balbi Senarega Palace integrates within it different tools and solutions, allowing a plurality of fruition modalities, to which corresponds an equal variety of levels of complexity from the point of view of content conveyance and the possibilities of deepening them.
In fact, the platform combines a traditional web-based exploration with a more dynamic navigation, which is based on a virtual tour of the building to which are associated a series of interactive POIs (Points of Interest), which provide a first basic level of information, and then refer to specific in-depth information contained in the sections of the site, with continuous links and references between the two different modes of fruition.
For the creation of this complex system we relied on MOVIO, an open source multifunctional solution that can be linked to MetaFad and integrated into existing portals, generally used to create and publish exhibition and tourist guides, digital extensions of real exhibitions and multichannel virtual exhibitions usable from any device. For Balbi Senarega Palace Movio has been customized and enriched with new tools.
The entire building has been digitalized by employing Matterport, a technology that makes it possible to combine an easy usability – the one offered by the virtual tour – with a series of additional multimedia contents (gallery of images, renderings, videos, textual cards, augmented reality contents) in direct association with the environments they refer to.
Discover the portal and visit the area dedicated to the virtual tour of the Palace.